The Portuguese are our oldest allies, don’t you know? Probably not, and you probably don’t know that the Portuguese cafe-cum-restaurant Boavista on Radford Road is one of the best value good food experiences in Nottingham. The food is typically Portuguese – wholesome, unpretentious and tasty.
Four of us ate there and the bill came to £55 for starters, main courses and a few drinks. I must admit that by my standards we were very temperate that Saturday night, but I have never known the bill to exceed £20 each, even on much more lubricated occasions.
To start, we had salgadinhos – a selection of croquettes made with mashed potatoes and veal, prawns, tuna and bacalhau (salt cod, the national staple which gives rise to at least 365 dishes so there is one for each day of the year), garlic bread and pipis (chicken gizzards, hearts and livers in a piquant sauce).
We followed with bitoque (steak, fried egg, chips, rice and salad), pescado frito com molho Maderience (fried hake in a Madeiran tomato sauce), one of my favourites, though this time I had the special - only offered on Saturdays - marisco con arroz (seafood with rice, which is a soupy paella, but without the chicken and smoked sausage). The latter I can personally testify to being excellent, and the others went down very well too.
We passed on dessert as we were a bit pushed for time, but we could have had, among other things, crème caramel flans or that Portuguese favourite natas (custard tarts with flaky pastry). I’ll almost certainly certainly succumb next time.
Also, alas, no time this visit for that great digestif, aguardiente (loosely translates as ‘firewater’), or Portuguese grappa. Great with postprandial coffee as the Portuguese do. Other typically Portuguese beverages on offer include draft Sagres beer, various other bottled ones including Super Bock, and Alentejo wine at a very reasonable £11.50 a bottle. It’s more than just a cafe bar though: Boavista acts as hub for the Portuguese, Angolan and other local communities, with a great atmosphere, and very welcoming, helpful, friendly staff and customers.
If you’re craving the sun but a holiday is but a dream, go and sample these delights and help revive an ancient alliance. They’re open six days a week so there’s no excuse to miss out. Clive Billingham.
Boavista, 215 Radford Rd, NG7 5GT. 01115 837 0023 facebook.com/boavista215
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